A Mother's Love
by Queen Persephone the Goddess
Summary: AU Tang Shen survives. She becomes a mother to the four turtles. And she is willing to do anything to protect them. So with her husband, she is ready to take on the Shredder, the Kraang, the foot and even her daughter to help her sons.
1. Chapter 1

"What do we do now?" Tang Shen asked her husband, tears rolling down her cheeks as they stared at the charred ruins of their house. "He has our daughter. Who knows what he'll do to her. "

"It'll be all right, my love," Yoshi told her gently, holding her close. He struggled not to cry himself. He knew he had to be strong for her. "We'll find her. In the meantime, we should go to America. I don't want Oroku Saki to find out that we survived and come after us."

Tang Shen buried her face in Yoshi's chest. "He was our friend. He said he loved me. We trusted him. How could he do this to us?" Tang Shen sobbed. "How could he be so cruel? How could he hurt us like this?"

"His anger got the best of him," Yoshi answered sadly.

"He's a monster," Tang Shen whispered viciously. "And I swear I will never rest until he is brought to justice." Yoshi never heard his normally sweet wife speak so harshly. He wrapped his other arm around her and hugged her even tighter. "I think I can walk now, Yoshi. Let's find some place safe to stay the night," Tang Shen suggested, wiping her eyes.

* * *

Twelve years later

Splinter was woken by a clatter. He struggled not to open his eyes. It was too early, even for him, to wake up. He instead turned over in his bed. He reached out to his wife's side of the bed. Only to find that she wasn't there. Splinter opened his eyes and got up, stretching as he did so.

Splinter grabbed his walking staff and went to the kitchen. He saw his wife mixing something in a bowl.

"You're up early, Panya," he greeted her sweetly. Panya turned around and pressed a finger to her lips.

"Don't wake the boys," she whispered. "I'm making them pancakes for their birthday."

"You mean mutation day," Splinter reminded her. Panya rolled her eyes and went back to cooking. "Where did you get the batter for pancakes?" Panya didn't answer. "You went up to the surface again, didn't you?"

"I was careful," Panya protested.

"You shouldn't have gone up there. What if someone had seen you?" Splinter asked sternly. "We're supposed to be-"

"Hiding," Panya suggested. "We're hiding. That's all we've been doing for ten years."

"Tang Shen, look at me," Splinter ordered, using her real name as he only did when he wanted her to listen to him. "I'm trying to protect our family. I failed once before and I refuse to do so again."

Panya turned towards him and rested her furry forehead against his. "I know. But you can't keep us down here forever. They are eventually going to want to go to the surface," Panya told him gently.

Splinter wrapped his arms around her, even entwining their tails together. He kissed her gently.

"Ew!" Raphael complained. The two mutant rats quickly separated and turned to their three sons. Penya guessed that Donatello was still asleep or in the lab, fiddling with his computer.

"What are you doing up so early, my sons?" Splinter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We heard you two arguing," Michelangelo blurted out.

"We weren't arguing. We were just talking," Panya said firmly.

"Really loudly," Raphael muttered. Leonardo elbowed him to be quiet. Raphael glared at him.

Panya quickly scooped up Raphael in her arms before a fight between the two brothers could break out. "Raphael, you know that your father and I have different… opinions but that doesn't mean that we're angry at each other. You know how much we love each other and our sons." Panya could see a hint of a smile on Raphael's face, which turned into a grimace when she kissed his head.

Michelangelo reached up and tugged at her sleeve. "Can I help you cook, Mommy?" he asked excitedly, having spotted the pancake batter in the bowl sitting on the counter.

Panya beamed at him. "Of course you can," she said, putting Raphael down before picking Michelangelo up and placing him on the counter. "You can help me mix the batter. Just try not to eat it until I've cooked it."

"But the batter is yummy," Michelangelo complained.

"I know but I want my boys to have pancakes on their special day," Panya told him with a smile.

There was a loud bang. Panya rushed towards the lab. She found Donatello lying on the floor, his computer lay a few feet away from him.

"Oh my sweet boy, what happened?" Panya asked, wrapping her arms around him and kissing the top of his head. She looked him over to make sure he was okay.

"I was trying to take a part of the computer's battery so I could make it last longer," Donatello answered.

"You know you shouldn't do things like that unless your father and I are present," Panya reminded him. "You could get hurt and then what would I do without my little genius."

"I'm sorry," Donatello said softly.

"It's all right. Why don't we go get breakfast before Michelangelo eats all the batter," Panya suggested. She carried Donatello into the kitchen.

"Mommy, Raph hit me," Leonardo complained as soon as she walked in.

"You nearly stepped on Spike," Raphael snapped, hugging his pet to his chest.

"Raphael, be nice to your brother. Leonardo, be more careful," Panya said sternly. "Michelangelo, please stop eating the batter. Donatello, don't even think about going near your computer until your father has taken a look at it."

Splinter smiled lovingly as he watched his wife fuss over their sons. It made his heart swell. They had a wonderful family, just like they always wanted.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Can you believe that this happened to us?" Yoshi asked, his eyes wide as he studied himself in a puddle. He touched his cheek and felt fur. "We're rats. Mutant rats." He felt like he was in a weird dream. _

"_You're still as handsome as ever, Yoshi, my love," Tang Shen told him firmly although there was a hint of teasing in her voice. "But I think we have a far more pressing matter to deal with." _

_Yoshi turned to look at her. His eyes widened when he saw that the four turtles, they had bought, had grown bigger and one of them was walking on his back legs. Soon the other three joined him. _

_The smallest tripped and fell. Tang Shen caught him. He giggled and said: "Mommy."  
_

_Tang Shen's eyes lit up and she hugged him. "Oh Yoshi, aren't they adorable? They're our sons. Our little boys." _

_Yoshi smiled at her. He knew that the last couple of months had been hard on them. That was the reason they had bought the four little turtles. The pet storeowner had said that they had been on sale for two years but everyone wanted puppies and kittens instead. Tang Shen and Yoshi had both known what was like to feel unwanted so they immediately bought the four turtles. _

_They had gone to buy pets to cheer them up. Instead, they were getting something more. Four sons who would give them the family, a family they had always dreamed of having. It was wonderful. _

"_Come, Tang Shen. Let's find somewhere we can raise our sons in peace," Yoshi suggested. _

_Tang Shen beamed at him. _

* * *

"Splinter, sweetheart, are you even listening to me?" Panya asked him gently, bringing Splinter back to the present.

"My apologies. I was thinking of the day we found our sons," Splinter explained. "What were you saying?"

"I was saying that perhaps the boys are a little young to be learning how to fight with such dangerous weapons," Panya answered.

"They're thirteen," Splinter reminded her. "Besides, they need to learn."

"I know but I just worry that they could get seriously hurt," Panya told him with a sigh. She was looking directly at Michelangelo when she said that. Out of the four of them, Michelangelo was being the least careful with his weapon of choice.

"Perhaps I was a bit hasty letting Michelangelo choose first," Splinter said with a small chuckle causing his wife to laugh as well.

Raphael snuck up behind Donatello and was ready to pounce on him with his sai when Panya spoke to him without even turning around. "Raphael, don't even think about it," she said fiercely. "You may only use your weapons during training."

"How do you always do that!" Raphael complained, glaring at his three brothers who were sniggering.

"I'm your mother, dear, I know everything," Panya informed him with a sly smile. "Now have you been meditating like your father told you to?"

"I thought you knew everything, Mom," Raphael teased.

* * *

The next morning, hours before Panya woke up, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Donatello tip-toed into Raphael's room.

"Raph, wake up," Leonardo whispered, shaking Raphael. Raphael groaned and swatted Leonardo's hands away in his sleep.

"Don't worry, dudes, I got this," Michelangelo said with a grin before leaning down to whisper in Raphael's ear. "Raph, can I borrow those magazines you collected to wipe up the mess I made in the bathroom." Raphael moaned and turned over. Donatello and Leonardo gave their youngest bother a "what now" look. "Wait for it."

"Mikey, I'm gonna kill you!" Raphael shouted as he jumped out of his bed. His brothers shushed him.

"Be quiet, Raph. You'll wake up Mom and her mother's day surprise will be ruined," Donatello told him.

"What? Oh right," Raphael said as he woke up and remembered.

"Come on. Master Splinter is waiting for us so we can make Mom breakfast in bed," Leonardo remarked.

As it turned out, Splinter, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael were not the best cooks in the world. After they burnt the eggs and toast three times, Michelangelo finally told them to get out of the kitchen while he did the rest of the cooking under Splinter's watchful eye.

"I can't wait to see the look on Mom's face when she opens my present," Donatello commented happily as he and his other two brothers sat around the table. "I worked on it for days."

"Let me guess, you made her earrings using the metal you found in the junkyard to match the necklace, you made her for her birthday," Raphael guessed with a snort.

"We live in the sewers," Donatello snapped. "There's not a lot of things I could do."

"I'm sure that you're mother will appreciate whatever gift you get her," Splinter remarked, giving Raphael a stern look as he came out of the kitchen.

Michelangelo followed him, holding a tray of delicious looking bacon, toast and eggs.

They went into Panya and Splinter's room. Panya had been expecting them, for she was wide awake and already sitting up in the bed.

"Good morning, darling, did you sleep well?" Splinter asked as he sat down next to her.

"Yes, I did. And I'm simply starving," Panya answered with a smile. Michelangelo placed the tray onto her lap.

After Panya had eaten, the boys gave her their presents.

"Oh thank you, Donatello, these will go lovely with my necklace," Panya gushed, giving Donatello a kiss. "Oh Leonardo, you found a collection of my favorite folktales, thank you." Raphael handed Panya his gift. It was six daises, Payna's favorite flower. "Oh, you're so sweet, Raphael." She gave both Raphael and Leonardo a kiss on their heads.

"Look, what I made for you, Mom," Michelangelo said eagerly, handing her a drawing. "It's all of us. The whole family."

Panya swallowed and she was struggling to hold back tears. She picked Michelangelo up and hugged him tightly.

"You're right, sweetie. This is our family. Our wonderful family," she told him with a tearful smile. "I wouldn't give this up for anything."


End file.
